Interview With Usky

Photography © Baeby Mama

Photography © Baeby Mama

"All you’re saying is a rewrite 
of what you’re going through."

An anti-pistonné determined by his ambitions, Usky is undoubtedly an artist who needs to be examined more closely, if not already being done. Of his real name, Marwen is from the 12th arrondissement of Paris,  and it can be said that he's up for a bit of danger. The one who has devoted his life to his music and the conception of his projects, he's not afraid to say things honestly. He indulges for A Rap & A Cup Of Tea to tell us about the real reason behind Porte Dorée, his latest mixtape, and the contradictions that make him the person he is. He told us everything about the relentless drive that pushes him daily to give the best of himself in all his projects.  

At only 28 years old, Usky makes music with guts, and it's felt as much in his songs as in his words. The artist, who's not afraid to show a hidden side of the Rap Game, entrusts to us today all his perseverance and wisdom. 

Can you tell me more about your career?

My career path involves a lot of work and stubbornness. It’s about not giving up and working continuously. I'm always in the studio, working on songs and concepts, thinking about future projects, etc. All this is continuous. I’m always thinking about the next step. 

I saw you say that you once wondered a lot about your future in music. What made you tip the scales and decide to make music your core focus and not give up? 

Honestly, what really allowed me to make that decision was the day  I signed my first deal at Warner and got my first pay. Seeing that I  was paid to do what I like made me realize there’s a concrete side to music. It changed everything in the sense that I really had a chance to show who I was and to explore my musical universe.

Returning to the mixtape Porte Dorée that you just released in February, the song 'Paris C'est Gotham' is a true banger that balances all the other songs on the rest of the mixtape. How did you get the idea? 

The song was not even supposed to be on the project. (laughs) I listened to this prod and got a kick out of it because I got a lot of inspiration from it. Initially, I just wanted to post a first verse on Instagram for my fans to enjoy and see their reaction. But in the end, I made my people listen to this song, and they were all saying: "Dude, you absolutely have to put that song on your mixtape because it’s a fucking banger!". Ultimately, they were right because it's the most streamed song of Porte Dorée: Saison 3, so it’s wild.

In your interview with GQ, ‘Don’t Touch My Tattoo', I saw that you were of Tunisian, Lebanese, and French origin. Is this cultural mix that you are lucky to have inherited something that you have always wanted to show off in your songs?

I’ll admit it’s something I never thought of putting forward, to be honest. When immersed in this cultural mix, it’s normal  for you, and you don't tell yourself, "I should talk about it.” Besides, I’ve never been into the delusion of being a spokesman for a community or that sort of thing. I'm more about the creation of a concept, the development of an idea, etc. It’s like with Porte Dorée. Many people and the media have simplified that my project was named like that because I came from that neighbourhood in Paris. In truth, I did it mainly to designate Saori, the goddess of war, from the Japanese manga and the Golden Gate. There’s always a much deeper meaning to everything I do.

In this interview, you also say that you consider yourself a kind of physicist; you made music your science and tested many things. You express this in the song 'Addiction,' where you say, "I’m not a rapper, I’m a physicist." Can you tell me more about all this?

I consider myself a music physicist because I have made music my science. Like you said, I’m experimenting with many things and testing new formulas. If you take the example of a scientist with a white coat, relatively isolated from others, that’s precisely what I am. I do my experiments in the studio with a little bit of auto-tune "here and there" I do tests on new projects, just like a real physicist in his lab. I found the comparison interesting because I don’t consider myself a rapper. Yes, I do rap, but I don’t just do that. I am trying to propose a kind of Rap that is much more complex. I feel somewhat ‘apart’ in some ways, even if songs like ‘Talons’ and ‘Fer’ are more mainstream. I find myself different in my approach, positioning, and way of mixing styles and universes with several facets. For example, sometimes, I will mix the types of languages and pass from a language that is supported to a language that is not supported at all. I'm full of contradictions. I am a science of my own because I'm the anchor of many different universes, and therefore, to create my music, I have to pick up the stuff inside me that composes myself. 

Speaking of contradiction, your elusiveness is one symbolic thing about you. If we listen to your songs, we see that you sometimes contradict your ideas, as you just said.

It’s something I’m aware of, it’s true, and I take it. But people must understand that you go through several phases when working on an album. The creative phase, in which you are at the beginning, is not necessarily the same at the end. I'm a very bipolar person, and I have ups and downs.  Sometimes, I wake up in the morning and feel like I’m not the same as the day before. I don’t know if it’s physical, chemical,  or psychological... I couldn't explain it. On the contrary, I don't hide from them; I show them deliberately on the album because they are part of my personality. Every human being is made of contradictions, which has marked my life for a long time. I’ve always been like this, and the world we live in is also contradictory. (laughs)

"I'm the anchor of different universes.

To create my music, I have to pick up

 the things inside me that compose myself."

"I'm the anchor of different

universes. To create my music,

I have to pick up the things inside

me that compose myself."

It reminds me of your Views TV interview, where  you say something powerful about the fact  that you hope one day to be passionate about something else by saying, "Music is just a passage."  You also say it in 'Douce Folie': "My worst nightmare would be to be a rapper at 40, and not understand that life is a cycle that the wise hear." I  found it striking.  

It’s an honest question I ask myself: “Am I only good at that?” I know with certainty that I love what I do and all that,  but there's a hope in me that doesn't want to die: I hope I'll have other passions. That doesn’t mean I won’t be in music later on, but maybe I don’t want to be in front of the stage anymore. There’s something very selfish about being an artist. I met a lot of artists, especially in the world of Rap, and I  realised that we're all selfish; me first. I wish I could get out of this, be more in the shadows and put other artists forward myself. In truth, I would feel bad to be a 40-year-old rapper frustrated because it doesn't work as he expected, and he always raps on the same themes. It’s a form of anxiety for me.  I don’t feel like rapping to get stupid.

Are you looking forward to this second life, or would you like to delay this step as much as possible?

The goal is to delay it as much as possible. (laughs) To be honest, I don’t think that I'll be the one who decides it. You know, I work on projects, and if people want to invest in me, it’s cool; we make a deal, and we can come up with something great. The day when no one wants to invest anymore and they stop believing in me, then life will tell me that I have to stop. This is the beginning of my career, and I still have many projects to come out of, and I haven’t gone through them yet. Loads of people don’t know who Usky is. I always say, “I will stop rapping the day everyone knows who I am, but nobody listens to my album”.

We used to say that you're never delighted when you’re an artist and always want more. You also say that you'll stop everything if you have nothing more to say. Are you afraid of that?

To realise that you have nothing more to deliver as a message? Yes and no. I think music is some therapy, and if you have nothing more to say tomorrow, it means that you have emptied your bag, and in itself, it’s a good thing. If I have nothing more to say tomorrow, it's probably because I will be cured.

Do you think it’s possible that you said it all?  

It depends on what you say. To write, you must have lived things to spit them out on paper. All you’re saying is a rewrite of what you’re going through. The thing is that, for 3-4 years, I’ve been in my bubble, focused on my music, and in the end, I don’t live many things. Maybe sometimes you have to take breaks too to learn new things and then to have material to continue writing. Not everything is black and white. Maybe tomorrow I’m going to take a break, and in 2-3 years, I’m going to experience something incredible, and I’m going to say, "Wow, I have to put it into music!"  you see what I mean?

There are many features on Porte Dorée: Saison 3. Can you tell me more about them?

Level feat, I really wanted to open up and relive moments in the studio with other artists. We contacted each other through Instagram, you know. (laughs) There's no incredible story behind these featurings, like: “We met in Bali and we decided to go back to Paris to make an incredible song.” I prefer to be honest. (laughs) I reached out to artists whom I admired and with whom I felt our musical worlds could harmonise, such as Jok'Air, Doxx, Monsieur Nov, and others.

Do you think that all these exchanges with your community via social networks also allow you to overcome the loneliness in which you can be immersed as an artist? You mention it in the song 'Silence,' where you say, "I have tens of thousands of followers, yet I feel so alone." 

Yes, in a way. It also depends on how you perceive things. We must not forget that social networks can help you overcome a false sense of loneliness. It’s not because you’re active on Instagram that you’ll feel less lonely; it’s a trap. Once your Insta live ends, you may still feel alone. I see networks more as a tool and a gauge. It allows me to see if people enjoyed a song or how they reacted, for example. Above all, networks represent my only means of promotion; I'm not played on radio or television, except on a few channels. I’m also not necessarily very publicised, either, so social networks are essential for me to stay connected with my fans. 

There’s a very benevolent side to you; you often give strength to people. For example, in several interviews, I’ve seen you say things like "Don’t worry about people’s opinion / You have to live to the fullest", etc. Is it essential for you to convey a message of hope like this? 

Actually, with Porte Dorée: Saison 2, I had lost that feeling of hope; I was in a very dark mood. And I wanted to get out of that phase. Basically, I want to give hope to those who come from the bottom. My message is mostly to show that you can succeed without connections or a sibling working in a record company, if you know what I mean. I represent anti-pistonner. Usky is the music of resourcefulness, the hustler. I don’t necessarily say it explicitly in my songs, and I wish I could talk more about it on the album so that people understand it. 

What’s your next goal?

Release an album, a real one. (laughs) Not in the form of a mixtape or trilogy like I did with Porte Dorée. The real goal is to become a better version of myself.

a.rap.a.cup.of.tea@gmail.com